Weight Weenies

Santoki, te answer is simple, rapha stuff is expensive, this make the brand not very attractive.

I've had 6 pieces of Rapha apparel bought in different countries and obviously from different distributors.

The gloves fell apart in a week with SEVERAL stitches opening up.

The neck scarf I thought was just ineffective.

Second set of gloves that were sent to replace the first opened up in a week and in a different spot. Got a full refund

Winter hat has split at 3 seams

So 3 products fell apart from bad stitching, one just sucked at what it was made for and the only thing that has survived was my softshell jacket. This is not including the same problems numerous friends have had. To be fair my Assos experience was much worse. I have no owned Rapha bibs nor will I ever since most teams can't afford Rapha kits, but I've heard good things about those.

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This guy tries way too hard to be funny but here's a review of the gloves.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2011/01/20/rev ... more-27014

MOFO SAYS THE GLOVES ARE NO GOOD, AND PLEASE PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE SEAM STORIES IN THIS THREAD AS THEY ARE TRUE.

So if you are out riding in the elements go to your local sears, kohls what have you and buy some warm gloves. You can wipe your snot on them, etc. The cash you saved earned you some sweet tubulars.

Seams or not, they are over priced for what they are. Period.

KWalker wrote:Rapha products and Assos products aren't made any better than anything else, they just have better marketing and appeal to the riders that want to channel retro/technical appearances for whatever reason. I found my Assos 3 layer system to be bulky, poorly made (everything fell apart), and annoying. I now use some Gore or Castelli gloves for the winter and have no problems. My Giro Lusso summer gloves have been to hell and back, look just like the Rapha ones that cost twice as much, and work just fine. Everyone I know that has used Rapha gloves has had a problem with them. The Rapha merino neck warmer is pretty much useless and was a giant waste of money, as was their winter hat. To each their own, but its a lot to pay for something that isn't terribly functional well-made, and worth the cash.

I do have the Rapha softshell, however, and I think its an awesome jacket.

True irony here. To paraphrase "Rapha sucks, none of their stuff is worth the money.....but their softshell is awesome"

They are expensive. I do not have gloves but have some bibs, jerseys and a jacket. All very well made and I expect when you brake it down to a cost per usage basis, really not that bad at all.

No, I am not a paid Rapha Boy!

gearguywb wrote:

KWalker wrote:Rapha products and Assos products aren't made any better than anything else, they just have better marketing and appeal to the riders that want to channel retro/technical appearances for whatever reason. I found my Assos 3 layer system to be bulky, poorly made (everything fell apart), and annoying. I now use some Gore or Castelli gloves for the winter and have no problems. My Giro Lusso summer gloves have been to hell and back, look just like the Rapha ones that cost twice as much, and work just fine. Everyone I know that has used Rapha gloves has had a problem with them. The Rapha merino neck warmer is pretty much useless and was a giant waste of money, as was their winter hat. To each their own, but its a lot to pay for something that isn't terribly functional well-made, and worth the cash.

I do have the Rapha softshell, however, and I think its an awesome jacket.

True irony here. To paraphrase "Rapha sucks, none of their stuff is worth the money.....but their softshell is awesome"

They are expensive. I do not have gloves but have some bibs, jerseys and a jacket. All very well made and I expect when you brake it down to a cost per usage basis, really not that bad at all.

No, I am not a paid Rapha Boy!

most of the time people get their information from "friends"... a friend of mine..... ect.

best regards, james bond.

gearguywb wrote:

KWalker wrote:Rapha products and Assos products aren't made any better than anything else, they just have better marketing and appeal to the riders that want to channel retro/technical appearances for whatever reason. I found my Assos 3 layer system to be bulky, poorly made (everything fell apart), and annoying. I now use some Gore or Castelli gloves for the winter and have no problems. My Giro Lusso summer gloves have been to hell and back, look just like the Rapha ones that cost twice as much, and work just fine. Everyone I know that has used Rapha gloves has had a problem with them. The Rapha merino neck warmer is pretty much useless and was a giant waste of money, as was their winter hat. To each their own, but its a lot to pay for something that isn't terribly functional well-made, and worth the cash.

I do have the Rapha softshell, however, and I think its an awesome jacket.

True irony here. To paraphrase "Rapha sucks, none of their stuff is worth the money.....but their softshell is awesome"

They are expensive. I do not have gloves but have some bibs, jerseys and a jacket. All very well made and I expect when you brake it down to a cost per usage basis, really not that bad at all.

No, I am not a paid Rapha Boy!

I bought them all at the same time and I'm just trying to be honest and objective. The jacket has been great so I can't complain and wanted to toss a positive note in there to show that I'm not hating all of their stuff off the gun, just what didn't work out for me.

I have 4 Rapha Jerseys(all over 4 years old)
1 Rapha softshell gloves
6 Pairs Merion socks
2 pairs winter socks
2 Fixed Wool tops
1 fixed shorts
4 Wool Baselayers
1 leather coin/jersey wallet thing(a present)
1 winter hat
3 caps/casquettes

No problems encountered..... so far. Oh forgot.... 1 wind top that I sold to someone else as I didn't like the cut/fit.
Some folk are harder than others on clothing........ just sayin'

Had my Rapha classic jersey/bib for a while and it's still in great condition so far !
I think what would really count is the way people wash them.

Other than the link to bikerumor, I didn't see anyone actually "reviewing" the gloves here in this thread. I have a pair and here's my assessment.

Pros:
They fit well. I can move my hands to actually do stuff when I'm riding like zip and unzip or button things
They cover up your wrists fairly decently to keep the cold out.
They have padding in the palm. None of my other winter gloves have this. Its a nice feature.

Cons:
They're not terribly useful if the temperature drops below the highs 20F.
The windproof material isn't that windprooof. Its ok, but not great. It should probably be labeled "wind resistant" instead.
They're expensive. But its Rapha and I kind of expect that.

Undetermined:
I haven't rode with them in the rain, so I'm not sure how they'll be in the wet.

I was really hoping for something to wear that 1.) Fit well, 2.) allowed proper movement of hands, 3.) was good in temperatures below 25F. These hit the first two. Not the third. I'd like to think you can have all three, but I haven't found it yet.

Thanks for the review. I was hoping that they would be totally windproof and work at slightly lower temperatures. I guess I'll keep using the gloves I have for now.

Nope, definitely not totally windproof. It didn't help that that day (Monday past) I rode with them was exceptionally windy and cold too. Everyone else agreed that Monday was bitter cold on the group ride this weekend.

These gloves, I would say, will be good between 30-45F or so and allow decent range of movement. If you need that, they'll do the job. They just don't meet my needs for a glove to go down into the colder temperatures we're experiencing in the northeast/mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. right now. I don't think any single glove will for me though. I need a combo of liners and lobster claws for this.

I have pulled the trigger on some Rapha bibs via shop discount. Just proves I don't hate the brand for no reason and I am willing to give their stuff a try for the right price.

Everyone is different but their bibs are my favorite shorts. I also love their 3/4 bibs.

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